Not many people can say they’ve been invited over to a Spice Girl's house for tea. Probably even fewer can say they spent the entire day at Geri Horner’s house. But it wasn’t planned that way. Our shoot the previous day had run late, and we were invited to do the interview at her place the next morning. Her publicist affectionately describes her as ‘fluid with time’.

We arrive at 10am and have to wait five hours until the chat actually starts – normally, that might annoy us a bit, but we’ve never met anyone quite as infectious as Geri. By the end of it, we don’t want to leave.

From the grand exterior, you’d expect her house to be very ostentatious inside, but instead it’s your standard family home. Baby mats and toys are scattered on the floor, there are prams and bikes by the door, family photos everywhere, Disney DVDs stacked high in the living room. The only things suggesting she’s a Spice megastar are two shiny Brit Awards on the mantle and a few posh candles.

We’re here to chat to her about her new song, and the special someone who inspired her to release new music again after 12 years – her dear friend George Michael , who passed away on Christmas Day last year. During our extended stay at Mrs Horner's, we hear her belting out the emotional ballad, Angels In Chains, during a singing lesson (her voice sounds better than ever, actually), but the lyrics are obviously very personal and sad. We can almost guarantee tears.

The Spice Girls in their hey-day (Image: Daily Mirror)

She rarely speaks of George in the past tense, instead referring to him as ‘living just round the corner’. You can’t say his name without her smiling. It’s obvious she worshipped the ground he walked on.

Her accent has changed a bit (she’s ever so posh) and she sits on the floor while we chat, occasionally jumping up to tend to her six-month-old baby Monty, answer the phone to Formula 1 racing boss husband Christian and to hang out with obvious best pal, 11-year-old daughter Bluebell.

She’s tinier than you’d imagine, petite and super slim and in a polo neck and jeans she looks sophisticated and fresh. It’s almost hard to imagine her as Ginger Spice, but her regular encouraging outbursts (‘You know you can be whoever you want to be, right?’) remind us the platform boot-wearing girl has obviously never left her.

Over numerous coffees, biscuits and chips and dips (the Horner pantry is snack paradise), Geri talks good times, hard times and the dearest friend who was there for her through it all…

What’s your earliest memory of George?

I went to a grammar school and all the girls were obsessed with Wham!. Most of them used to go and wait outside Andrew Ridgeley’s house. But my first real memory of seeing him was a Wham ! concert at the NEC Birmingham. I remember everyone was screaming and I thought, ‘I’m not going to scream. I’m going to marry you instead.’ He sang the line, ‘All I want right now is you,’ and pointed in my direction. In my head I knew, ‘I’m going to meet you soon.’

And when did that day come?

The Capital Music awards when the Spices were just starting out. George was on stage talking about his mother, who had died, and I was floored by that. My father had died when I was younger and I couldn’t believe he was being so open. I had no one to talk to when my dad died, seeing him speak was incredible and I was drawn to him. Also because I really fancied him, I can’t lie.

What happened next?

I was thinking how I could lose the rest of the Spice Girls because I wanted to go up and speak to him by myself. Eventually I managed to shake them off and I bounded over, it was my chance to make an impression. I was laying it on really thick, doing the flirty eyes, but he just wasn’t responding to it at all. I was thinking, does he not fancy me? I mustn’t be his type? We exchanged numbers anyway and I just assumed he’d ring me for a flirt. But when he did call, he dropped in the phrase ‘my boyfriend’ and my jaw just dropped. I was so shocked.

The pair in 2001 (Image: Getty Images)

You saw what you wanted to see?

Exactly. Because looking back now it’s obvious. But regardless of his sexuality and good looks, I was drawn to the person within. He has the shiniest soul and I couldn’t get enough of it. To have gone from kissing posters on my bedroom wall of him to hanging out? He became one of my favourite people.

How much of a support was he to you?

He was everything. He reached out to me when I quit the Spice Girls and asked if I needed somewhere to stay. I was supposed to go to his home in St Tropez for a weekend and stayed three months. That was the first time I saw him as a person and not just a star. It was what I needed.

What was that time like in St Tropez?

He was so sweet to me. I was so lost when I left that band. It was 100% my entire life. I was broken. It was like a divorce. It was too much to deal with too young and I felt vulnerable. But he was so kind and made me laugh. Kenny was in St Tropez too, and we’d go out for meals and sunbathe all day. He meant so much to me. Losing my father and suddenly having this older man in my life was amazing. He was a mentor, father figure and friend.

Did he give opinions on your boyfriends like a dad does?

Yep! He’d say, ‘Stop being a silly cow,’ for going out with the wrong boys. I used to bring my boyfriends home to meet him. But I loved how honest he was with me. With the music, men, everything. If I gave my opinion to him he’d say, ‘Oh, give over love!’ But you do bicker with those closest to you.

Pals Geri and George (Image: WireImage)

What did you like doing best together?

He was the most normal man. I used to play Connect Four with him. He loved EastEnders and This Morning , so we’d watch that. He liked simple things. And helping others. He took me and my newborn baby Bluebell in. As well as buying me a Mercedes.

Now that is a gift…

And just giving me the gift of a home. When I was so vulnerable having had my first baby, I had nowhere to live and he invited me into his home. I lived there with a newborn for nine months. On one of her birthday parties, he popped round and was there with me the whole day. It was me and George Michael hosting my daughter’s party. He was utterly lovely and so sweet with the children. It was no trouble for him to give up his day for me.

Do you have anything special of his?

The rocking chair he gave me to nurse Bluebell in. I use it now to breastfeed Monty. It’s beautiful. He was the most generous person on Earth. Whatever he could do for anyone, he would.

What are your funniest memories?

Everyone knew what a good sense of humour he had. Look at the James Corden original Carpool Karaoke sketch. He’d laugh at me a lot, that’s for sure. I remember him bounding round with an iPad before they were released. He was thrilled with it. I was like, ‘George, that will never take off.’ He liked techy things.

Geri and husband Christian (Image: Getty Images Europe)

You’ve said he was mischievous?

Fantastically so. We went to an Elizabeth Taylor charity event and he was particularly naughty that evening. I was bidding for a necklace of hers and he was secretly bidding against me, pushing the price up. I was squealing, ‘Please can you stop!’ but he was just laughing.

How did you hear he had died?

It was late at night and I found out on Twitter. I didn’t believe it at first. I didn’t know how to process it, and I was very heavily pregnant so my hormones were all over the place. When somebody dies, people sometimes take a while to grieve. I was like the walking wounded.

How do you keep his memory alive?

Everyone will have their own memories, but all I want to do is share mine. Let’s celebrate him. The artist, the man, and the great human being who will forever be in our hearts. I loved him because he was amazing. No matter how long we went without seeing each other, we’d always just pick it straight back up. That’s the best kind of friend anyone can have.

On naming her son after George

She might be working on a new album, but Geri also has a newborn to dote on. Montague George Hector Horner was born in January, just a month after George’s passing, so the name was a fitting tribute…

Geri with Christian and their children Bluebell, Montague and Olivia (Image: Getty Images Europe)

Was it your decision to name Monty after George?

That was my mum’s idea. I was very cautious about what is actually respectful, but my mother absolutely adored George. She would go round his house and have little chats with him. George as a middle name has poignancy.

What’s Monty’s personality like?

He’s a very smiley baby. He will coo at me in the mornings as if to say, ‘Bored now, wake up and entertain me!’ It’s totally different the second time round being older, and having a boy is a new energy. I appreciate every second of it. I prayed for this baby. Bluebell wanted a sibling and said, ‘Mummy, please don’t give up.’ So I actually said, ‘God, if you exist, can I have a baby naturally.’ Two months later I was pregnant. That reminds me to have faith in life.

He was born not long after George died…

George died on the 25th December and Monty came out on the 21st January. It made me realise the circle of life. I think birth and death are both wake-up calls. It makes you realise how precious life is. I had both of those things happen in big ways in the space of just a few weeks. Monty is a reminder that good things can happen in life. He melts my heart.

At the Glamour Women of The Year awards earlier this month (Image: WireImage)

Will he follow in your footsteps?

We want our children to be magnificent without being pushy parents. I hope he’s either a zoo keeper or the Prime Minister. They require the same skill sets, to be honest. But then he may end up in IT, and that’s OK too.

Geri on her new music

Having not released any new music in over a decade, Mrs Horner was feeling a little rusty. George’s passing was the push she needed to start again and her new single, dedicated to him, will be released close to his birthday, the 25th June – she was so desperate to release it at this time, she recorded it a few days before she gave birth!

Why is the song called Angels In Chains?

It means that we’re all good people, but we all have stuff going on. Everyone has baggage they have to carry around with them. 2016 was a challenging year for me, and when George passed, I couldn’t handle the loss, so I poured my emotions into a song.

Are you nervous for people to hear it?

Of course, because I want there to be a positive response. It’s scary to show your feelings to other people. It’s my first release after almost 12 years. I’d go and ask George his opinion on the song. But I couldn’t, and it was a noticeable gap in my life because I always desperately wanted his approval. Instead, I took it to George’s producer. He loved it and suggested we used George’s band and backing singers. For a fan, that was exciting. It was then I realised I really was his number 1 fan. Being together recording and grieving, some healing happened. I felt something shift.

Were you confident recording after so long?

I needed to record this song. I knew it was right. As I’ve got older I can overthink things too much and procrastinate. That ballsy youngster who hadn’t fallen over too many times was always fine. But I’d lost the brave within me. I needed to be pushed out of the door, and celebrating George was that. I needed substance and to give back.

And the royalties go to Childline?

Esther Rantzen told me recently all the profits from (George’s song) Jesus To A Child go to Childline . I had no idea. No one did. But I want people to know how generous George was. She told me he did so much for the charity. So I am doing the same and all the profits from this single will go to Childline, in George’s honour. It will be released around his birthday for the fans, from a fan.

Geri Horner's single Angel In Chains is out on Friday 23rd June through Warner Music. Geri's profits from the sale of the single will be donated to George Michael's charity of choice, Childline